


You Are Loved TK Strand

by SneetchesToo



Series: Good Things Happen Bingo [7]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Found Family, Good Things Happen Bingo, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29638080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneetchesToo/pseuds/SneetchesToo
Summary: GTHB: Found FamilyTK celebrates 1 year of sobriety, and he wouldn't be here without his family.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Good Things Happen Bingo [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154996
Comments: 21
Kudos: 159
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	You Are Loved TK Strand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ALilyPea (alilypea)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alilypea/gifts).



> *This is for Ash because she's amazing and deserves all the love in the world.  
> **It's inspired by the synopsis for episode 2x08.

Carlos was shocked when woke up to find the bed beside him empty, normally on the rare occasion that their days off lined up TK was always the last to rise.

But this morning it seemed as though the other man had beat him to it.

“TK?” He figured his boyfriend hadn't gone far, but when he got no response he let out a sigh and drug himself up and out of the bed. “TK, babe, you here?”

He poked his head in the bathroom, but it was empty, as was the spare room and judging by the silence coming from downstairs, he guessed that he would find those rooms empty too.

Letting out a huff he made his way back toward the bed, grabbing his cell from the nightstand.

He didn’t have any missed calls and no texts and he felt himself starting to panic.

He pressed the ‘call’ button next to TK’s name and waited, but the phone just rang and rang and rang.

Sighing, he headed toward the bathroom, deciding to shower quickly before going on a hunt for his boyfriend.

When he emerged less than 10 minutes later he dressed and brushed his teeth before racing down the stairs, calling TK once more, growling when he got voicemail instead.

“Where in the world could he be?” He stopped when he reached the kitchen, his eyes going to the calendar on the wall.

They had gotten in the habit of writing down schedules on the thing, along with TK’s NA meetings and Carlos’ volunteer hours.

There was nothing written on the day, but he noticed that it was circled, something that he most certainly didn’t remember doing.

Which meant that TK had done it, which meant that today was somehow significant to him.

Carlos just couldn’t imagine what it could be.

Sighing to himself he pulled his phone out, calling Owen as he shifted back and forth nervously in the kitchen.

“It’s seven in the morning on my day off Carlos, this had better be good.” He felt bad for waking the man, but he was desperate.

“Have you heard from TK?” He waited with bated breath for an answer.

“Not sense last night, why?” Well that was never a good sign.

“He wasn’t here when I woke up this morning.” He was really starting to panic, his mind going to a thousand different horrible places. “There’s nothing on the calendar, no meetings or nothing, but he did circle the day.”

“What is today anyway?” He glanced back at the white piece of paper beside him.

“October 22.” The date didn’t mean a thing to him, nothing at all. “Why? Is that significant?”

He heard Owen sigh on the other end, muttering something to someone before speaking up again.

“I have a feeling he’s just off reflecting somewhere.” Reflecting about what? “Today marks a year that he’s been sober.”

Carlos let a struggled ‘oh’ before moving to sit down in a chair.

“He didn’t tell you?” No, in fact, he hadn’t even mentioned it.

“No.” He shouldn’t be upset by that, but somehow, he had thought it was something that should be mentioned. “Not a word.”

“I doubt it was intentional Carlos.” Well he was glad that Owen thought so, but he didn’t feel so good about it. “Any idea where he would go to think?”

“He usually comes here.” Which was true, ever since they had resolved things after the awkward run in with his parents six weeks ago, they had been all but inseparable.

“Give him a bit and try calling him again.” Easy for Owen to say, he wasn’t the one currently having a panic attack about TK’s whereabouts. “I’ll go check the station if he doesn’t answer my call. Just stay put in case he comes home.”

The fact that the older man referred to Carlos’ as home made his heart swell a little.

It had certainly felt like that the past few weeks, the two of them there, together, all the time.

“Okay.” He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “Just, let me know.”

“I will son.” And then the line was dead and he was left sitting alone in the deafening silence of his apartment once again.

—

Carlos had tried calling TK three more times before 9:00am, but he never once received a call back, not even a text.

He had called Judd and Grace, but neither one of them had seen him.

And neither had Marjan or Paul or Mateo.

And when he tried Michelle she assured him that her and Owen were looking for him, but that they had no luck yet.

At this point he was ready to report him missing.

But then his phone buzzed in his hand and he looked down, seeing a text message from Tommy light up the screen.

_Your boy just walked into the station. Looks a little worse for the wear._

Carlos let out a sigh of relief as he rushed to put on his shoes and grab his keys.

_Do not let him leave!_

He sent the reply back as he hurried to his car, breaking more than a few traffic rules as he rushed to the 126.

When he arrived, Owen and Michelle were just pulling in and Judd was leaning against one of the trucks chatting with Tommy.

He figured Tommy had sent out an SOS to everyone.

“Where is he?” He didn’t mean to sound snippy, but damn did he want to make sure the man was okay.

“Inside, he’s in Cap’s office.” Judd nodded toward the stairs and sighed. “He didn’t really look like he wanted to talk though.”

“I don’t care.” And then Carlos was making his way up the steps two at a time, a breath of relief leaving his body when he noticed TK sitting in Owen’s chair, staring blankly at the wall behind him.

He waited a minute to see if he would realize that he was being watched, but he either didn’t notice, or he didn’t care, so Carlos made his way toward the room slowly.

He pushed the door open and watched as TK’s head snapped up, a small smile forming on his lips when he realized it was him.

“Do you know how much I’ve been worrying over you?” He sounded insane but he couldn’t help it, his brain had come up with a hundred different scenarios and none of them were good. “How much we’ve all been worried about you?”

“Sorry.” TK stood and made his way toward him, stepping into his space and wrapping his arms around his waist with a soft sigh.

Carlos wanted to yell at him about not answering his phone or being irresponsible, but he couldn’t, not now.

So instead he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to his head, holding him tightly as he waited for him to be ready to speak.

“Are you okay?” He had waited five minutes for words to leave TK’s mouth and they didn’t, so he decided to speak first.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” TK pulled back and scrubbed at his face, wiping away what Carlos could only assume were tears. “I woke up this morning and realized what day it was and I just had to get out. I just… I went for a run, and then I just walked around the city for a while. Eventually it landed me here.”

Carlos sighed as he shook his head and stared him down.

“And you couldn’t have answered your phone?” Was that really too much to ask?

“I had it on silent.” He shrugged as he spoke, probably realizing that his excuse sounded lame. “I didn’t even think about it. I’m sorry I worried everyone.”

TK looked so sad, so… disappointed, and it broke Carlos.

“We just wanted to make sure you were okay Ty.” He reached out and pulled the younger man back to him, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he cupped his cheeks against his palms. “We were worried something bad had happened.”

“Nothing happened, I promise. I didn’t do anything I stupid…” The fact that he thought that’s what they were thinking made Carlos’ heart hurt. “I promise I…”

“TK, stop.” He let his voice get firm enough to make the other man stop muttering, watching as he finally raised his eyes and connected them with his. “We just want you to be okay. And you don’t have to run away from us, we’re here for you.”

TK simply nodded before reaching up to wipe at his face again, but Carlos beat him to it, wiping the tears away with his thumbs as he waited for him to calm down.

After a few minutes of standing in silence they were interrupted by a knock on the door and Carlos sighed.

He guessed he couldn’t be but so angry, they were in Owen’s office after all.

“Everything okay?” He nodded his head as he stepped back, allowing TK to step toward his father.

“Yeah, I just… needed some air.” Whether Owen believed him or not Carlos would never know because all the man did was reach out and pull his son into his arms, hugging him tightly as the others slowly made their way up the stairs.

“We just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Owen pulled back and patted TK on the shoulder before stepping aside, not a soul in the group surprised when Judd pulled the younger man into a bear hug.

“You can’t just disappear on us like that kid.” TK nodded his head as he pulled back from the resident cowboy, allowing Grace to pull him into a hug as well.

“We’re proud of you.” She squeezed him tightly before pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Very, very proud of you.”

Again, TK simply nodded, the attention surely getting to him as everyone reminded him just how much he was loved.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Marjan grabbed him next, pulling into a hug that Paul and Mateo soon joined, the group refusing to let TK go for a good sixty seconds.

“I was… I don’t know, embarrassed I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders as he rubbed at the back of his head. “I didn’t know how you all would react.”

“React, TK, being sober for a whole year is a big deal.” Michelle was right, like she often was, and Carlos smiled when she pulled TK in for a hug as well.

“Yeah, TK, we would have helped you celebrate this.” Tommy hugged him next, keeping an arm around him as he stepped back at wiped at his eyes.

“I hate being the center of attention.” He huffed out.

“Since when?” A chorus of voices answered and then they all laughed, watching as TK smiled the first genuine smile they’d seen this whole time.

“Come on kid, you gotta let us celebrate.” Judd wasn’t wrong there.

“No, it’s not that big a deal.” They all collectively shook their heads and TK sighed. “Fine. Dinner, but that’s it.”

“And cake?” Michelle was always all about some cake.

“And presents?” Marjan and Paul already looked like they were up to no good.

“And balloons, gotta have balloons.” Carlos figured Tommy knew a thing or two about balloons after all the amazing parties she had planned over the years.

“Fine, cake is fine.” He pointed at Michelle and she beamed back at him. “And balloons are okay too.”

Tommy simply nodded her head in a satisfied faction, smiling as she patted him on the back.

“And presents?” This time Mateo asked the question and Carlos watched as TK shook his head back and forth at the trio before him.

“Presents are a bit much guys.” They all sighed, but he knew that wouldn’t deter them.

“Alright, tonight, our place, seven okay with everyone?” Grace was the hostess with the mostest if Carlos had ever seen one and he knew this would be one heck of a gathering.

“We’ll be there.” And then slowly everyone filtered out of the room, leaving Carlos alone with his boyfriend for the first time in what felt like hours.

“You, Tyler Kennedy Strand, are one very loved human being.” He whispered, watching as TK blushed, a lone tear rolling down his cheek.

“I don’t know why.” Carlos shook his head as he pulled him into his arms once more, pressing a kiss against his head as he sighed.

“Because you are one hell of an individual.” He knew that TK would deny everything he was about to say but he didn’t care because it was true. “You are smart and funny and you have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met. You make friends everywhere that you go and your smile lights up the room. You are an amazing person TK, and every single one of those people out there believes it so you should too.”

TK pulled back and eyed him softly.

“Do you believe it?” Of course he believed it, would he have said it if he didn’t.

“And then some.” He winked and TK blushed once more, bowing his head as he chuckled.

“I guess we have a party to get ready for huh?” Carlos smiled as he leaned in and kissed him softly.

“I guess so.” He was excited to spend the night celebrating with their friends and family, but first, he wanted to celebrate just the two of them. “But we’ve got some time…”

“What exactly are you implying Officer Reyes?” TK raised an eyebrow and smirked, causing Carlos to blush this time.

“Perhaps we should go do some celebrating of our own…” He waited for TK to respond, but s instead of saying anything he simply leaned in and kissed him, letting all the passion he had inside him out.

And if there was anything about TK that Carlos loved the most, it was his passion, and he would definitely make sure to tell him that, over and over and over again for as long as he would let him.

**Author's Note:**

> *Comments are lovely.


End file.
